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Poster for The Shadow Play

The Shadow Play

2019 · 129 min

A slow-burning, moody crime drama that immerses you in a web of corruption and personal obsession, demanding close attention.

Directed by
Lou Ye
Genres
Crime, Drama, Mystery
Starring
Jing Boran, Song Jia, Ma Sichun
Overview
Tang Yijie, the Construction Committee Director, falls off from rooftop and dies in a demolition riot. Yang Jiadong, a young police officer starts his investigation and finds that Tang's death is tied up with another case several years ago. Soon he is framed and suspended from duty, but he never gives up.

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In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
Directed by
Lou Ye
Genres
Crime, Drama, Mystery
Starring
Jing Boran, Song Jia, Ma Sichun
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • darkstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • cynicalstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • corruption
  • obsession
  • betrayal
  • isolation
  • justice
Places
  • big city
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
  • nonlinear
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action3
Horror1
Humour1
Realism7
Romance3
Tension6
Darkness7
Complexity7
Emotional weight6

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
crime, drama, mystery, thriller
Directed by
Lou Ye
Written by
Qiu Yujie, Ma Yingli, Mei Feng
Starring
Jing Boran, Song Jia, Ma Sichun, Qin Hao, Michelle Chen, Zhang Songwen, Edison Chen, Wang Weishen
Music
Jóhann Jóhannsson, Jonas Colstrup
Runtime
129 min
Country
China
Languages
Mandarin

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